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Power Rankings: 2005
November 22, 2005
9:55 AM EST (0955 GMT)

Week 37 of 36, Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway
Rank Prev Number Driver Comments
 1 - Tony Stewart Tony Stewart He and Jeff Gordon have a lot in common. Gordon likes Belgian women. Stewart likes Belgian waffles.
 2 - Greg Biffle Greg Biffle I could almost hear Jack Roush on the radio. “Don’t let the 6 by! He will retire in victory lane! I need him next year!”
 3 - Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson I checked our photo archive from 2005. Times he was pictured without a hat: 0
 4 - Carl Edwards Carl Edwards If he struggles next season, he will have to tell people to “wait until last year.”
 5 - Mark Martin Mark Martin Deep breath. One more. And think of the gifts Rusty got.
 6 - Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Average finish before it was announced his cats would appear on Greg Biffle’s 2006 pet calendar: 21.4

Average finish after announcement: 11.0
 7 - Rusty Wallace Rusty Wallace He got a three-wheeled bike as a retirement gift. Which kind of sucks. You can’t sell those on eBay because no one wants to pay for the shipping.
 8 - Kurt Busch Kurt Busch The city of Miami had a lot of promos featuring Busch in the form of banners that hung from lampposts. I saw one of the banners in handcuffs in the back of a squad car.
 9 - Ryan Newman Ryan Newman He didn’t stand up with everyone else when they saluted Rusty in the drivers’ meeting. It was a show of solidarity with his new teammate, who didn’t stand up either.
10 - Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Report: Media pressuring Gordon to marry girlfriend Ingrid Vandebosch so her last name becomes easier to type
11 - Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Mayfield Report: Mayfield’s teeth are going to look great for banquet
12 - Jamie McMurray Jamie McMurray He is going to run the No. 26 next year. This is either a move away from the Kurt Busch era or a tribute to the Johnny Benson era.
13 - Kyle Busch Kyle Busch The family Thanksgiving just got a whole lot more awkward.
14 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior’s dog, named Killer, didn’t care he finished 19th in points. Awww.
15 - Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick If his cars were as good as his commercials, he would have won the title this year.
16 - Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne I finally saw the Allstate commercial. Not impressed with the women. I think they slowed down because Kahne looked like one of their children.
17 - Dale Jarrett Dale Jarrett Report: Jarrett relieved Schrader didn’t retire and make him the series’ oldest driver
18 - Elliott Sadler Elliott Sadler Funny email we got last week: “I finally got to stop by his Sadler Gas Station/Rest Stop in Emporia. I got a key chain. Please tell Elliott that the handicapped stall is fine, but the other stall is way too tiny.”
19 - Joe Nemechek Joe Nemechek He failed to get a top-15 finish in the last five races and that prevented him from getting a career-best points finish.
20 - Ricky Rudd Ricky Rudd I wish when drivers retire, someone would put together a montage of all the great commercials the driver was in. The only one I remember Rudd starring in was the one where he argued with Jarrett over the Bloomin’ Onion. It was the first post-mullet commercial for Jarrrett.
21 - Casey Mears Casey Mears Casey Mears’ performance in the last few races shows why I think Reed Sorenson can win quickly with this team. As long as Reed doesn’t get a debris caution with 11 to go.
22 - Brian Vickers Brian Vickers Yeah. I am tired. Thanks for reading Power Rankings this year. It’s not easy coming up with 38 Brian Vickers jokes. Thank heavens he ran a lime green car at Texas. That carried me for a month.
23 - Jeff Burton Jeff Burton He led the Nextel Cup Series with three 11th-place finishes. And tied for last with zero Bud Poles.
24 - Bobby Labonte Bobby Labonte I had an argument yesterday with another writer. He says Yeley will finish higher in the points than Labonte next year. Which is like saying Brent Sherman will finish higher in the points than Ken Schrader.
25 - Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Report: Media forced to admit they made up Richie Gilmore simply to have someone to quote from DEI

The Power Rankings are written by Ryan Smithson and the opinions listed here are solely those of the writer. To email Ryan about the Rankings, click here.
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• Week 1 at Daytona International Speedway
• Week 2 at California Speedway
• Week 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
• Week 4 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Week 5 at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Week 6 at Martinsville Speedway
• Week 8 at Texas Motor Speedway
• Week 9 at Phoenix International Raceway
• Week 9 at Talladega Superspeedway
• Week 10 at Darlington Raceway
• Week 11 at Richmond International Raceway
• Week 12 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
• Week 13 at Dover International Speedway
• Week 14 at Pocono Raceway
• Week 15 at Michigan International Speedway
• Week 16 at Infineon Raceway
• Week 17 at Daytona International Speedway
• Week 18 at Chicagoland Speedway
• Week 19 at New Hampshire International Speedway
• Week 20 at Pocono Raceway
• Week 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Week 22 at Watkins Glen International
• Week 23 at Michigan International Speedway
• Week 24 at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Week 25 at California Speedway
• Week 26 at Richmond International Raceway
• Week 27 at New Hampshire International Speedway
• Week 28 at Dover International Speedway
• Week 29 at Talladega Superspeedway
• Week 30 at Kansas Speedway
• Week 31 at Lowe's Motor Speedway
• Week 32 at Martinsville Speedway
• Week 33 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• Week 34 at Texas Motor Speedway
• Week 35 at Phoenix International Raceway
• Week 36 at Homestead-Miami Speedway
• Week 37 at Daytona International Speedway
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